It’s high season for new cookbooks and good food reading. Sara Kate and others of us from The Kitchn have been doing our best to keep up with this year’s new books, giving you tastes and peeks inside some of our favorites. This week we are going to be reviewing several more new books that we think would make great gifts — for yourself, or for others! First up is a great little stocking stuffer or hostess gift of a book: a cookie book filled with inspiration and eye candy for bakers.
There are almost as many names for casseroles and gratins as there are recipes. It’s a rich genre of cooking, including everything from Italian lasagna to Indian biryani to American tuna casserole. It’s also an improvisational genre, with the best casseroles being mixes of leftovers and simple food, like the French peasant food the onion panade. Here are about a dozen casseroles from The Kitchn, with one layered baked dessert thrown in for good measure!
David Letterman-style, David P. Goldman lists the 10 reasons to “scrooge” the unemployment number the government announced last Friday.
10. As noted, nearly 300,000 people disappeared from the labor force, yet the BLS reports no increase in “discouraged workers” or workers forced to take part-time jobs for economic reasons.
9. Private sector service jobs supposedly increased by 51,000, yet the National Institute of Purchasing Managers’ (NIPM) survey shows that services employment fell during November. The unexpected drop in the NIPM report, which is a reasonably good advanced indicator of economic activity, doesn’t square with the BLS report.
8. The reported improvement in services was driven by an 86,000 increase in temporary employees in “administrative and support services“. There almost certainly is an element of truth in this report, but it is not necessarily good news. The biggest hiring boom stems from the huge backlog of home foreclosures. With one out of eight American homeowners behind on mortgage payments, the Wall Street Journal on November 19 reported, “Mortgage restructuring for strapped homeowners has emerged as a rare growth area in the economy as companies in the field keep hiring. Four of the largest mortgages servicers – Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co – have collectively hired almost 17,000 people this year, mostly to work with financially ailing homeowners. With the number of defaults rising, many are planning to keep adding staff.”
Read the whole thing at Asia Times Online >>
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Here’s a great cookie to pair with your next peppermint mocha! This is from Cookie Craft Christmas, which we reviewed earlier today. We really like this easy recipe for gingerbread houses; it’s a lot more accessible (and eat-able) than all those more constructed and fancy gingerbread houses.
Ever felt like the Chinese market just doesn’t provide enough large swings in value for your taste?
Well have no fear, Direxion has come to the rescue.
Their new Direxion Daily China Bull 3x (CZM) and Daily China Bear 3x (CZI) will let you take on far more risk than is probably necessary, targetting 3x the daily move of the BNR China Select ADR Index.
Given the prolific existence of 2x leveraged funds already, it looks like 3x is the logical next step for the ETF marketers.
IndexUniverse: “The emerging markets sector is increasingly tradable in today’s evolving investment landscape,” said Direxion Shares President Dan O’Neill in a release. According to O’Neill, the new funds hope to capitalize on what he calls “tremendous trading opportunities” in the country- and region-specific sectors.
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The group will start by advising with the overhaul of the help content on safety-related issues available in the Facebook Help Center. The social network wants to make the information available a useful and comprehensive tool focused on the three groups which are likely to be the most interested, parents, teachers and teens.
“We believe that the only way to keep kids safe online is for everyone who wants to protect them to work together,” Elliot Schrage, Vice-President of Global Communications and Public Policy at Facebook, said. “The formation of a board to advise specifically on safety issues is a positive, innovative and col… (read more)
Last week we released our latest Enterprise Content Management (ECM) research which included the addition of four new mid-market product evaluations. While the ECM mid market is often ignored, we’ve noticed a recent vibrancy particularly among document management solutions in this tier. We’ve created a SlideShare presentation to further illustrate what we’re seeing in this mid market.
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler
During last year’s holiday season Chrysler’s rank and file were faced with extended holiday shutdowns. The reason was simple: Millions of Americans decided to stop buying vehicles due to the economic downturn. While the market is still down, auto sales have stabilized and the Pentastar isn’t dealing with an outrageously bloated inventory, but Chrysler vehicles aren’t flying off dealer lots. Chrysler was the only major automaker to see year over year sales down by double digits in November and the automaker’s short-turn sales outlook is anything but rosy.
The Wall Street Journal reports that for the second straight year many Chrysler workers will be on extended shutdown during the holidays, with five plants taking three week leaves beginning December 21. Vehicles affected by production shutdowns include the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans, the Dodge Viper, Charger and Challenger, the Chrysler 300 and the Jeep Wrangler. Also under consideration for an extended layoff is the Dodge Ram. The Pentastar originally planned to shutter the plants for the typical ten-day holiday shutdown. To help combat continued slow sales Chrysler has increased its advertising budget.
[Source: Wall Streer Journal – sub. req’d]
Chrysler reportedly set to extend holiday shutdown at five plants originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Interest rate guru and uber inflation hawk Jim Grant lays out a message in the Wall Street Journal to Ben Bernanke that’s more chilling than anything Jim Bunning or Ron Paul have ever said to the Fed chief:
Ben S. Bernanke doesn’t know how lucky he is. Tongue-lashings from Bernie Sanders, the populist senator from Vermont, are one thing. The hangman’s noose is another. Section 19 of this country’s founding monetary legislation, the Coinage Act of 1792, prescribed the death penalty for any official who fraudulently debased the people’s money. Was the massive printing of dollar bills to lift Wall Street (and the rest of us, too) off the rocks last year a kind of fraud? If the U.S. Senate so determines, it may send Mr. Bernanke back home to Princeton. But not even Ron Paul, the Texas Republican sponsor of a bill to subject the Fed to periodic congressional audits, is calling for the Federal Reserve chairman’s head.
Grant goes on to rue the loss of the gold standard:
You get the strong impression that Mr. Bernanke fails to appreciate the tenuousness of the situation—fails to understand that the pure paper dollar is a contrivance only 38 years old, brand new, really, and that the experiment may yet come to naught. Indeed, history and mathematics agree that it will certainly come to naught. Paper currencies are wasting assets. In time, they lose all their value. Persistent inflation at even seemingly trifling amounts adds up over the course of half a century. Before you know it, that bill in your wallet won’t buy a pack of gum.
For most of this country’s history, the dollar was exchangeable into gold or silver. “Sound” money was the kind that rang when you dropped it on a counter. For a long time, the rate of exchange was an ounce of gold for $20.67. Following the Roosevelt devaluation of 1933, the rate of exchange became an ounce of gold for $35. After 1933, only foreign governments and central banks were privileged to swap unwanted paper for gold, and most of these official institutions refrained from asking (after 1946, it seemed inadvisable to antagonize the very superpower that was standing between them and the Soviet Union). By the late 1960s, however, some of these overseas dollar holders, notably France, began to clamor for gold. They were well-advised to do so, dollars being in demonstrable surplus. President Richard Nixon solved that problem in August 1971 by suspending convertibility altogether. From that day to this, in the words of John Exter, Citibanker and monetary critic, a Federal Reserve “note” has been an “IOU nothing.”
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Russia, Europe | Natural Wonders
Taking a trip to Lena’s Pillars is no easy task.
Your trip will start in Moscow city where you will take a four day journey to the Siberian area of Yakutsk which is the equivalent flight distance to that of New York! This trip will cost you an average of $800 dollars since there are no other airline competitors flying to this destination. Upon arrival in Yakutsk, you will learn that you can only get to Lena’s Pillars by boat. Though, supposedly only a half a days trip upriver, it takes significantly longer and the locals can offer you a 3 day trip on a small boat for about $500. Finally after 4 days of travel, you will have arrived at your destination!
Lena’s Pillars are a natural rock formation, which was made a World Heritage site in 2006. Numerous fossils and ancient organisms can be found at these pillars, and the area is important for its fossil record of the explosion of life in the lower Cambrian. It has also been the site of many mega-fauna fossils such as mammoth (Mammulhus primigenius Blum), bison (Bison priscus Boj), fleecy rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiguibatis Blum), Lena horse (Eggus lenensis Russ), and Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L). Evidence of ancient human life can be seen from the rock paintings and manuscripts from the area.
Although Lena’s Pillars are an amazing sight to behold, be aware of the long (and expensive) trip ahead of you, as well as the lack of basic comforts and amenities due to the remoteness and isolation of the of the area!
The U.S. has endured a massive housing crisis, and intense manufacturing competition from a seemingly endless supply of low cost labor abroad.
Yet somehow, for Legacy Furniture Group of North Caroline, business is booming.
Sales are growing 10% and the company has its employees working overtime to meet demand. They’re also hiring.
Associated Press: In November alone, the company that specializes in furniture for the medical industry added a half-dozen employees to its staff of 35. These days, everyone is clocking overtime and the 40,000-square-foot factory is starting to feel awfully cramped.
“We’re starting to stack people instead of stacking furniture,” jokes co-founder Todd Norris as he navigates rows of hand-sanded chair frames.
Legacy isn’t alone, apparently U.S. manufacturing employment has been showing some small signs of improvement, even ahead of improvement in services employment:
Legacy’s recent success highlights a trend: Counties with the heaviest reliance on manufacturing income are posting some of the biggest employment gains of the nation’s early economic recovery. This is a big change from just half a year ago, when some economists worried that widespread layoffs by U.S. manufacturers might be part of an irreversible trend in that sector.
…
“Manufacturing jobs are here to stay, and they’re coming back,” said Derald Bontrager, president and chief operating officer of Middlebury, Ind.-based RV maker Jayco Inc., which recalled or hired 200 laid-off workers over the summer to help ramp up production after an unexpected sales boom overwhelmed all-time-low inventories and left the producer unable to meet demand. They’re still trying to catch up.
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Colorado, Networkers MSB
With the growth of the of the business globally our client who is one of the leading Solar PV organisations globally are looking to appoint an experienced Project Manager to be based at their US HQ in Colorado.
FUNCTION:
Provides management discipline, direction, supervision, and leadership for the projects located within the assigned geographical region. Work to be located at the Boulder office with frequent travel to the project sites.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Reports to the Director of Construction.
REQUIREMENTS:
Requires an engineering degree from an accredited university and 15-20 years of technical, engineering and construction experience including a minimum of 10 years of supervisory experience, 10 years of management and electric utility/cogeneration experience including deep understanding of EPC contracts, and 10 years of construction experience. Additionally, demonstrated experience with EPC type projects is required. Experience in the engineering and construction of solar projects is a plus.
Strong desire to become an expert in PV solar energy generation projects and technology
Field experience in managing power projects and utility contractual management is required
Working knowledge of state, federal and insurance regulations as well as requirements that apply to major power plant design and construction projects.
Excellent time management skills.
Demonstrated ability to develop high level management control programs.
Perform cost/benefits analysis, both the short and long versions.
Experience relating to computer processing of cost and schedule information.
Be proficient in short and long range planning techniques.
Knowledge of federal licensing requirements for power stations.
Excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing.
Demonstrated leadership skills.
Positive ‘Can-do’ attitude.
Ability to plan, coordinate, and analyze situations.
Thorough understanding of both engineering and construction contracts and associated paperwork requirements.
Ability to create RFPs and RFQs, and negotiate and administer procurement and construction contracts.
Demonstrated ability to give presentations and perform training in both the management and technical areas, in addition to developing such programs.
Demonstrated people skills, both inside and outside the project team, such as motivation, team building, conflict resolution, and resource allocation.
Demonstrated efficiency in managing multi-disciplinary tasks.
Frequent travel is required.
RESPONSIBILITES:
Support the completion of preliminary engineering, detailed specifications and construction and supply contracts.
Support and provide technical review and comments to detailed civil and electrical design and engineering performed by the company.
Lead the development of detailed project management and construction plans and schedules.
Have in-depth knowledge and understanding of EPC contract for the company’s projects, prevent escalation of contractual disputes between the company and contractor(s) through effective contract management
Deep understanding of the company’s change order process requirements (for owner and sub-contractor)
Support the hiring of competent field staff to ensure adequate resources are in place for effective and timely execution of projects.
Support project construction activities, ensuring Honor, Teamwork, Quality, Schedule, Cost, Safety, Environmental, and Landowner requirements are met or exceeded.
Ensure implementation of effective and economical construction methods, techniques, policies and procedures to optimize construction efficiency.
Support the execution of site project work to ensure it is completed in accordance with approved contracts and ensure compliance.
Direct and manage the due-diligence review of the projects by third party (lender and equity investor) consultants and engineers.
Develop effective relationships with engineers, contractors, and suppliers and be prepared to negotiate contractual disputes for benefit of the company.
Develop effective and supportive relationships with colleagues.
Provide supervision and guidance to subordinate staff.
Draft RFPs and RFQs, and select suppliers and constructors.
Draft, negotiate, and administer procurement and construction contracts.
Develop the basic plan for executing and controlling the project.
Lead the preparation of project procedures.
Lead the preparation of the project budget.
Lead the preparation of the project schedule.
Review plans and procedures periodically and institute changes if necessary.
Participate in the selection of key company personnel.
Review and maintain a system for decision-making within the region whereby decisions are made at the proper level.
Foster and develop a spirit of project team effort.
Assist in resolution of differences or problems.
Anticipate and avoid or minimize potential problems by maintaining current knowledge of overall site project status.
Review project activities for conformity to all Code and Standard provisions.
Maintain effective communications with all team members.
Now that we have seen HTC’s H1 2010 Windows Mobile line-up, what can we make of it? The first if of course that HTC is stepping back from Windows Mobile, at least until Windows Mobile 7, releasing more and more interesting devices on the Android platform.
The second is the death of the high-end, with all the smartphones sporting low-resolution screens, average cameras and the minimum of features. None of the Windows Mobile smartphones feature digital compasses for example. The only new feature of note is that 2 of the 3 devices have capacitive screens, again indicating this technology is likely to take over going forward.
The only novel form factor from HTC is the HTC Trophy, which appears to be HTC’s first Windows Mobile Professional device with a front-facing QWERTY keyboard (making it a rather tall device) and with a VGA screen quite well-specced for the form factor, which may make buyers interested in the HP Glisten hesitate.
However, the overall conclusion is however that if you want a high-end handset, there is nothing worth waiting for in the next 7 months – buy a HTC HD2 now.
What do our readers think? Are you disappointed by HTC’s new rumoured devices? Let us know in the comments below.
Over the weekend, a retail analyst brought this up to us, and we wanted to throw the question out to you: is the lack of seasonal temp work screwing with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s unemployment data?
Note this line in the AP story about stock brokers competing for Christmas labor:
Competition is especially fierce for retail jobs, in part because the industry has cut 1 million jobs since January 2008, said Davis of the National Retail Federation. Many retailers, fearing another weak holiday season, are trying to manage with leaner staffs.
“Not only are there fewer positions, but more people are applying,” Davis said.
That helps explain why shoppers who phone customer service at online retailer Moosejaw Mountaineering get Scott Beebe, a trained engineer with two postgraduate degrees and eight years of experience in product development for General Motors.
In other words, employment typically swells during this time of year, and so when the BLS is making seasonal adjustments, their models might be assuming that swelling. But if it’s not actually happening this year — which is what our source thinks is the case — then the unemployment data may be understated.
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When a loved one is going through a difficult time or has suffered a loss, sending flowers or bringing them a homecooked meal are thoughtful gestures. But here’s another idea that could be even more helpful: groceries.
Influenza is still in the news, be it H1N1 or the seasonal flu. But even when the flu isn’t newsworthy, we still need to be aware of it, particularly over the winter season.
With the holiday season quickly taking hold, I interviewed, Payam Hakimi, D.O., American Board of Family Physicians, Medical Director Body of Harmony Institute of Health & Healing, Teaching Faculty Center for Education & Development of 
Clinical Homeopathy. Dr. Hakimi suggests that everyone have a flu plan, allowing them to be prepared should they be hit with influenza, whatever type.
Dr. Hakimi:
The most important thing a person should know is what actions to take in case they have the signs and symptoms of the flu, which are outlined below. It is important to know that most of these signs and symptoms are also shared by the common cold viruses; however, the high severity and the suddenness of the symptoms differentiates the flu which is caused by the influenza virus.
First, here are the signs and symptoms of the flu to watch for:
What treatments should you undertake?
Dr. Hakimi: As soon as you feel the above symptoms start the following approach to boost your immunity.
Drink plenty of water; it helps to eliminate the toxins from your body.If your symptoms last more than 5 days and they are not improving or if you feel worsening of the symptoms you should seek the advice of your physicians. Sometimes the body gets weak as it is fighting a viral infection and a bacterial infection can start or co-exist with the viral illness. If any signs or symptoms of bacterial infections start, which are usually yellow-green nasal discharge or cough with yellow green phlegm, you should visit your physician for prescription of antibiotics. If you have severe diarrhea and vomiting which is not resolving and causing dehydration or if you have changes in skin colors or the white of your eyes you should seek the advice of your physician. Urgent cares and emergency rooms are to be used in case your symptoms are worsening and getting very severe and you have no access to your physician in a timely manner.
What exactly do you mean by a “flu plan?”
Dr. Hakimi: A Flu Plan involves certain behavioral and dietary changes that will decrease you exposure to the flu and if infected will decrease the duration and severity of the symptoms. It allows you to feel secure that you have taken all the measures necessary to be ready in the event that you or your family become ill.
Do flu plans vary from person to person?
Dr. Hakimi: There is a general flu plan to help the body to increase immunity and fight the infection. However, it should be personalized for the following group of people who are at higher risk of complications with the flu. The following group of people need to be seen and evaluated by their physicians. Others can use the plan as described. Make sure you seek the attention of your physician if your symptoms do not resolve or worsen.
Who is at risk?
Dr. Hakimi:
Pregnant women (women who are pregnant suppress their own immune system to harbor a “partial foreigner” – their baby’s father’s genes, therefore making them immuno-compromised throughout their pregnancy.What is in your personal flu plan?
Dr. Hakimi: Prevention
Thank you Dr. Hakimi. You’ve reinforced a lot of what we’ve heard, but you also introduced some new information to help our Blisstree.com readers.
~~~
Images: PhotoXpress.com
Post from: Blisstree
The FTS FlexiCool® Immersion Cooler from Genevac/SP Industries Inc. provides reliable, rapid cooling capability, down to -100ºC, just where you need it.
Benefiting from a durable, heavy-duty refrigeration system that eliminates the inconvenience and cost of handing dry ice or liquid nitrogen, the FlexiCool is designed to provide years of continuous trouble-free operation.
With a choice of three different probe options – the FlexiCool can be configured to provide an optimised cooling system for applications that include reaction vessels, vapour trapping, parylene coating systems, laboratory dewars, differential scanning calorimeters, CCD cameras and vapour sorption analysers. The FlexiCool can also be customized to meet OEM application requirements.
Optional digital control with RS232 interface enables precise temperature control throughout your process and provides controlling capability and data collection from a remote location.
SP Industries is a leading manufacturer of laboratory to production scale freeze dryers / lyophilizers, centrifugal evaporators and concentrators, environmental control chambers, thermal control system, glassware washers and dryers. The company sells its products under well-known brands including Hotpack®, VirTis®, FTS™ and Genevac®. SP Industries has ISO 9001:2000 registered production facilities in the USA and Europe.
For further information please visit www.ftssystems.com/PDF/Flexi-Cool.pdf or contact SP Industries on +1-845-687-5303 (+44-1473-240000 in Europe) or email [email protected]
Integra Biosciences has chosen ArabLab 2010 to showcase its latest products for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and clinical laboratories.
Ernst Freydl – Marketing Director at INTEGRA commented ‘ArabLab offers us an ideal venue to meet with our customers from the Middle East, Asia / Pacific and Africa regions in particular’. He added ‘This year – visitors to Stand 225 will have the chance to see and discuss some exciting new media preparation, liquid handling and vacuum aspiration products’.
For hospitals and life science labs involved with media preparation and processing the MEDIAJET Automated Media Filler now offers the unique flexibility for high throughput filling of Petri dishes of various sizes, Petri dishes with two compartments (biplate dishes) and test tubes of various diameters and length. Furthermore, a new integrated shaker function provides a convenient solution for pour plate applications.
Following its recent merger with the Viaflo Corporation – Integra Biosciences AG – the inventors of the PIPETBOY – the world’s favourite serological pipetting aid – will display for the first time a complete range of top quality handheld pipetting systems offering accurate liquid handling from 0.5µl to 100ml. In addition – visitors will be able to see a new liquid handling set that significantly aids scientists in keeping their cell culture work streamlined and organised when pipetting and aspirating liquids.
INTEGRA has also extended its VACUSAFE aspiration system for the safe disposal of liquid waste with new models for laboratories wishing to utilise an existing supply of vacuum while benefiting from many of the advantages of the internationally popular product.
For over 20 years INTEGRA has actively marketed and supported its range of easy-to-use and productive laboratory products throughout the Middle East, Asia/Pacific and Africa using an informed network of local specialist distributors.
For further information please visit ArabLab 2010 or contact INTEGRA on telephone +41-81-286-9530 or email [email protected]
INTEGRA Biosciences has extended its VACUSAFE aspiration system with new models for laboratories wishing to utilise an existing supply of vacuum while benefiting from many of the advantages of the internationally popular product. The new design, without integrated vacuum pump, has been priced to be affordable by almost all laboratories.
The compact VACUSAFE makes aspiration of hazardous liquids very safe, user-friendly and flexible. Unlike most “home-made” aspiration systems, the VACUSAFE has several important safety features like the liquid level sensor and the two hydrophobic filters that block potentially dangerous aerosols. A new handle makes the carrying and emptying of the VACUSAFE waste bottle even easier than before. With a wide range of adapters, removal of liquids is possible from virtually any container.
For laboratories looking for the flexibility of an all-in-one vacuum aspiration system the traditional VACUSAFE includes a low-noise pump, shatterproof collection bottle and a versatile hand operator. It is extremely simple to operate – switch on, set the required vacuum and start working. VACUSAFE is the laboratory aspiration system of choice for a growing range of applications where gentle and controlled vacuum removal of supernatants is required.
The VACUBOY hand operator is a convenient tool for aspirating liquids from virtually any laboratory container – at the touch of a button and in a controlled way. Simply connected to a VACUSAFE laboratory vacuum system, the VACUBOY hand operator includes a finger activated valve that precisely regulates vacuum flow and includes a variety of aspiration adapters to suit most applications.
Today INTEGRA innovative lab tools are widely used all around the world. More than 60 distribution-partners form a worldwide sales network providing responsive and competent services to customers. These distribution partners are supported by a highly motivated and experienced team of specialists at the company headquarters in Zizers, Switzerland and Hudson, USA. INTEGRA is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company.
For further information on the extended VACUSAFE comfort range please contact INTEGRA Biosciences AG on telephone +41-81-286-9530 or by email [email protected]. In the USA please contact Viaflo Corporation on telephone +1-603-578-5800 or by email [email protected]
The transmitters Sesam 800 Small and Medium has undergone further testing for IP-rating and has now been approved according to the IP67 classification.
IP rating means degree of protection against solid foreign objects (1 st number) and degree of protection against water (2nd number).
IP67 classification means that the enclosure is completely dust- and water protected. The water test is made by completely immersing the enclosure in water in its service position. The enclosure is immersed to the depth of one metre with the duration time of thirty minutes. Acceptance for Class IP X7 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
Åkerströms Björbo AB is an international company that develops, produces, markets, and services products for industrial radio remote control of cranes, work vehicles with mobile applications, door-opening systems, and locomotives. The company is a market leader in the Nordics, and its remote control solutions cover everything from small systems to sophisticated systems for complex applications.
